May Day protesters torch a Paris McDonald’s and vehicles, as 200 are arrested and annual worker’s rights march descends into chaos
Around 1,200 people in black jackets and face masks shouted slogans such as ‘Everyone hates the police’ as they turned the traditional May 1 union-led demonstration for worker’s rights into chaos, police said
Nearly 200 protesters were arrested Tuesday after May Day riots in central Paris, where hooded youths torched a McDonald’s restaurant and several vehicles during a march against President Emmanuel Macron’s public sector reforms.
Shouting slogans such as “Rise up, Paris” and “Everyone hates the police”, around 1,200 people in black jackets and face masks joined the traditional May 1 union-led demonstration for worker’s rights, according to a count by Paris police.
After trying to hold up the march, a group of protesters ran amok along the route, destroying a McDonald’s near Austerlitz station, east of the city centre, and setting it ablaze.
They also burned vehicles at a car dealership, along with a mechanical digger and a scooter, leaving a trail of destruction and plumes of dark smoke billowing into the air.
The worst unrest in months in Paris comes at a time of heightened tensions over Macron’s changes in the public sector and follows a showdown between police and anti-capitalist squatters at a sprawling commune in western France.